The Fancy Bears are at it again. On Friday, the Russian-tied hacking group released documents it claims are the TUE forms of five Olympic cyclists, as well as a slew of other Olympic athletes.
The latest data dump includes TUE forms from Rio gold medalists Fabian Cancellara and Nino Schurter, silver medalist Jakob Fuglsang, bronze medalist Catharine Pendrel, and Great Britain’s Stephen Cumming, but none of the TUEs are related to the Rio games.
The medications fit the pattern of previously leaked TUEs, with a heavy emphasis on asthma and other respiratory drugs. Pendrel is the exception, as her TUE for pain medication appears to be related to a surgery.
Your handy guide to the Fancy Bears TUE hacking controversy.
Here’s a rundown of Friday’s release:
Fabian Cancellara’s TUEs
Fancy Bears released two Cancellara TUE documents, both for the steroid methylprednisolone, which can be used to treat severe allergies and asthma. The first TUE is from August 2011, just before the Vuelta a España, and a second from late May 2013, for the Tour of Belgium.
Both of Cancellara’s TUEs were for bee stings, according to his Trek-Segafredo team. The team provided photos of Cancellara’s swollen face as further evidence that the TUEs were legitimate.
“Trek-Segafredo and Fabian Cancellara confirm that Cancellara received therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) for the treatment of severe allergic reactions to bee stings on August 17, 2011, and May 18, 2013,” the team wrote in a statement. “The treatments were administered in respective urgent care centers where Cancellara was treated, and not by a team doctor.”
The 2011 TUE indicates that the medication would be administered via intravenous injection. The UCI implemented its needle ban earlier in 2011, but that ban stipulates that injections can still be used if “medically justified.” It also notes that Cancellara checked into a hospital in Bern, and that he would undergo the required pre-grand tour blood tests in Bern.
The 2013 TUE, for the same drug, indicates that it will be taken orally, 40mg on the 18th and 20mg on the 21st of May.
Jakob Fuglsang’s TUEs
The lone TUE associated with Jakob Fuglsang is odd. It is for Triamcinalone, same as Bradley Wiggins. The form has no date, and does not appear to have been approved at all. The “Authorized by” section is blank. There is no “Effective by” date, and the expiration section is marked by “N/A.”
The TUE is for the UCI mountain bike world championship, an event that Fuglsang has not participated in since 2008, when he was a U23 and still racing mountain bikes. The TUE number, 6639309, is also the lowest of any of the TUEs in this release, suggesting the form is quite old.
On Friday evening, Fuglsang confirmed that the TUE was for the 2008 mountain bike world championship.
Stephen Cummings TUEs
The lone TUE for Stephen Cummings is from December 2008 for salbutamol, the fast-acting asthma drug.
Nino Schurter’s TUEs
Three of Olympic gold medalist Nino Schurter’s TUEs were released. The first is from June 2009, for budesonide and formoterol, both used to prevent asthma attacks. The second is from July 24 and is also for formoterol. The third is from May 24, 2014 and is for Ciclesonidum, another drug that can be used to treat asthma.
Catharine Pendrel’s TUEs
Former world cross country champion Catharine Pendrel received a TUE in early April of this year for Reminfentanil, a narcotic pain reliever. Pendrel had surgery on her thumb in early April.
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